Letting go
by xNaixGarekix
Summary: Ashley has come back. Seeing the big guy's corpse.. fuels her anger. Letting loose the murderous side of her, on Caleb's goons. Helping her mother, before the final countdown ends in the Sanctuary. Seeing Will again, in comfort.. some decisions.. become less rational.


"Mom!" Ashley called, as she teleported to the Sanctuary- her former home. Seeing Caleb and his henchman stomp inside the grounds, "Big guy!" she cried as she saw his corpse. "I'm so sorry! I should have.. come earlier. Helped you. But I- wasn't ready. This is.. all my fault. I didn't even get to say goodbye." a tear slipped off her face, onto his matted fur.

"I'll get revenge. It isn't what you'd want. But. It's what _I _want. It's a promise, I aim to _keep_." she disappeared, hearing others coming. "Get out of my way!" Ashley wanted _Caleb_. He was going for her mother, and she wouldn't let him get away with what he did to her long-time friend. Her claws grew as she impaled one through the stomach. Ripping out it's heart.

Blast doors shut behind them, and ahead. Her mother was planning something.. what was it? To destroy the place? No. She couldn't. Could she? Ashley raced to keep up with Caleb and the others, his other abnormals had kept her busy. She arrived in time to see Helen kill him. The timer was counting down, to near zero. Five seconds left.

Ashley ran faster and harder than before "MOM!" she yelled as she grabbed Helen from behind, who'd previously put on a vest of somesort. Teleporting them out of the Sanctuary, before it detonated. Leaving Helen at the newly constructed Sanctuary.

"Ashley?" Helen asked, looking around for her daughter. Her sudden appearance at the Sanctuary.. seemed so odd to her.

Ashley heard her name called, her lip quivered. "Goodbye.. _Mom_." she whispered, teleporting back to see the Sanctuary destroyed. "You deserved a proper goodbye." she looked at Bigfoot's body. "No matter what you did. You loved us. All of us. Mom. Will. Henry. Probably even my Dad. Though he's the hardest to 'love'. I'll miss you, forever and always." she shut his eyes

"Even in death- you'll be the brightest and.. most beautiful soul out there." she murmured

"Ashley?" she heard her name called, looking over

"Will?" she asked

"It is _you_!" he ran toward her, and hugged her hard

"Will!" she hugged him- a bit of her super strength added into the mix

"Too.. _tight_." he grunted

"Sorry. I didn't... mean to." she let go trying to pull back

"I didn't say 'stop'." he smiled "Have you been.. _crying_?" he asked looking at her face

"The Big guy.. he.. died." she was still choked up about him "I couldn't just.. leave his body like that. He deserves a burial. After all the crap I gave him. He put up with all of. A little too long." she smiled sadly

"Don't cry. Cause you know. I'll cry with you." Will half-joked. Seeing Bigfoot like that.. tore his heart out.

"Don't get all girly on me, Zimmerman." she smiled

"Says the one- crying. Right?"

"I am a girl!" Ashley countered, with her smart-ass attitude.

"You are? Tough as nails I never thought Ashley Magnus of all people would call herself. 'Girl'"

"Ass! I must have rubbed off on you, more than a little." she joked

"I think you did. Alot, actually."

"The big guy. I want to bury him." Ashley was serious again

"Yeah. We need a casket."

"No need for one. Come on." she had one hand on the body, and Will as she teleported them out.

Will look around at their surroundings "What- is this place?" he asked

"His home. He asked- if he ever died.. that he be taken here. Home. Disgraced or not. His people _will _take him back and give him a proper resting place. Or go through me."

"There's the Ashley I remember. Abrasive as ever. If not more-so." Will mused

"Help me.. get inside." Ashley picked up his body, holding it in her arms, waiting for Will to knock on the hidden 'door'. "My attitude is probably from my Dad. Who knows?" Ashley shrugged, keeping the jokes going. Without them, it was only sadness for her comrade.

Will knocked on the door, waiting for it to open. Another one like Ashley held opened it, grumbling until he saw what she held. "He died in combat. Protecting my mother. He was kicked out of here, but his last request is that he be buried among his people." Ashley explained

"Bring him inside. We will prepare our mourning ritual."

Ashley and Will had both expected some sort of fuss, but there was none. Both walked inside, Ashley placing him down gently on the structure the other bigfoot pointed to. "You may leave now. We will bury our brother."

"He called us Family. We can't just 'leave' we were his siblings through right of cast!" Ashley spoke up

"It is a rule, that outsiders cannot see our rituals. The others wouldn't take too kindly. A deserter, coupled with outsiders.. would cause an uproar."

"Ashley. I don't like it anymore than you do. But. We have to go." Will put his hand on her shoulder, a reassuring smile.

"It's not fair- Will. That we don't get to see him. Say our proper goodbyes. He was the greatest friend, abnormal I could ever know. Other than you, of course." she half-smiled. Tearing up once again.

"I know, Ashley. And it sucks. But we have to go. They won't let us stay. We can hold our own ceremony, say goodbye in our own way. Like they are going to." he promised

"Alright." she teleported them out, still hugging back to her apartment.

Will looked outside the windows, "Never straying far from home. Huh?" he asked- seeing the remnants of the Sanctuary.

"No. I helped as much as I could. Staying off the radar. I couldn't come back.. I was still just the Cabal's plaything. A danger to all of you." she reasoned

"How did you.. get back to normal?" he asked, looking back at the tear-stricken girl.

"Dru-" she stopped herself "Dad" she corrected "Helped me. He knew how I felt. Put me through hell and back to help me."

"I'll bet. What did he do?" he asked

"Helped me cope, mostly. After he hugged me to death- never letting go. I never thought him capable of so much love. He killed off all the Cabal heads- for what they did to me. Mourned me. And flipped out when he saw me again. He's the reason I can come back now. Help out more often than just.. sitting out on the side lines."

"What about Magnus? Are you going to go see her soon?" he asked

"Not yet. She isn't ready for me yet."

"When will she be 'ready'? I thought she was crazy- to believe you were still alive. All of us wanted you to be. But we all lost hope, Ashley. Except for her."

"I'm not ready for her." Ashley corrected her earlier statement, she broke down. Crying. "After what I did to her- and.. now the Big guy died because I was gone! I could have done something.. stopped him! But I didn't because I was too busy playing house. Off on my own!"

Will hugged her, Ashley's sobs died down after a while. His shirt stained with tears. Ashley looked at Will- and kissed him. "Ashley! What are you doing!?" Will asked

"Just. Let me forget about all of this. For a little while. Distract me." she pleaded, working on removing his clothes "I need something to do. Other than cry for a change. I've done far too much crying." she sounded weak.

It broke Will's heart to see her this way. He didn't pull away when she kissed him again, half-hearted..truth be told he liked her from the very beginning. Spunky girl. And now. Over grief- they were to end up together. Ashley was just going through the motions. Way better at this than he'd thought she would be. Ah, yes. He forgot that he'd _thought _about them getting together. 'Together' like _this _before.

It helped Ashley momentarily forget about everything happening around her. Will and her. That's all there was right now. No death. Despair. Erasing every bitter memory of the Cabal. Being a slave, used to destroy what her mother had worked so hard to create and protect. Bigfoot. Killing Caleb's followers against her mother.

Seeing her mother again, and helping her out of the Sanctuary. She had a blank mind, now. Going through the motions with Will. All of her anger, frustration.. sadness.. envy. Every last emotion she had, was poured into this fleeting moment that didn't seem to last long enough. An eternity in the making, the joining of her and Will Zimmerman.

It couldn't go slow enough, and at points.. it seemed to continue longer than need be. Ashley never wanted it to end, so she could keep the reality of the world out. Had she guilted Will into this? Yes. Didn't he want it too? He could have denied it, if he wanted too. Stop it. Stop overthinking, Ashley. It's happening. That's all there is to it.

"I think I. Love you." Ashley murmured, when it was all over. Laying beside Will on the bed.

"Honestly. I think I love you too." Will whispered "The moment we met. Well. Maybe not the moment we met. I just. Was fascinated by you. We clicked, eventually when you accepted me as an equal. Nobody ever made me feel like you did. Some came close, I had relationships. The more serious ones always seemed to end up with death."

Ashley smiled sadly "I'm sorry. I don't mean to bring up any bitter memories. There's enough of that going around. Especially me pulling them out, far too often. Some scars- just _refuse _to go away. As my mother would say it's 'Bloody irritating'" her British accent was atrocious.

Will burst into a laughing fit "What's so funny?" Ashley frowned

"Your British accent is bloody terrible, darling." he put on his

"So is yours. Stupid!" she hit his arm playfully, laughing with him.


End file.
